The author examines the single topic approach to the construction of introductory philosophy courses. The author considers the single topic approach to be an alternative to more historically- and topically-based approaches. The traditional approach to philosophy is often broad and difficult for students to engage with in classroom discussion. A narrow and detailed treatment of a standard area or topic facilitates classroom discussion and allows students to transfer insights and skills in areas of their own disciplines. The author outlines a methodology that treats philosophical texts in an interdisciplinary context, which emphasizes to students that philosophy is not a detached field of study.

This paper details methods for teaching a topic-based approach to an introductory philosophy course. The problem with course surveys is that they sacrifice depth because of their fast pace, which often leaves students behind. Students are unable to grasp the scope of survey courses and only high functioning students appear to benefit from the structure. The single topic method can serve as a point of entry to the history of philosophy and students can gain a more intimate relationship with the material. The author outlines the benefits of teaching a topic-based course centered on the problem of evil. The course allows students to immediately gain an intimacy with the material because it has intellectual and emotional connections to their lives. This approach to philosophy on a personal level also allows students to branch out into larger philosophical issues, such as justice, epistemology, politics, and metaphysics.

This paper is an outline of a semester long experiment with students in a bioethics course at the College of Staten Island. The experiment traces the complexities students face in moral reasoning. The author recounts the specific moral questions that arose amidst efforts to construct a collaborative list of definitions for terms of moral justification. The project contributed to students’ general knowledge of bioethics and its principles of judgments. The intensive engagement with the principles of moral justification allowed students to grapple with complex moral issues, to research literature for basic terms, and to approach philosophical arguments across the history of philosophy.

This paper attends to the pedagogical benefits of using modeling clay to teach students the difficult Taoist concept of Wu Wei. The concept Wu Wei is often difficult to teach because students who are raised on the Western work effort find it impossible to grasp principles of effortless work and creative quietude. The exercises transform student's initial negative reaction to the concept into a positive intent through guided practices in molding clay. The clay exercises provide students with the experience of silent work, which is need to complete their philosophical picture of the concept of Wu Wei. Students are able to engage in a relaxed activity that comes through practice facilitated by educators, which gives students a hands-on experience of Taoist attitudes of simple work and effortlessness.

The author explores various pedagogical methods concerning how to teach Wittgenstein’s later work. A significant obstacle for the incorporation of Wittgenstein into an undergraduate curriculum is to decipher the major features of his philosophical ideas. The engagement with Wittgenstein’s work is not a task of mere comprehension or thought, but rather of discernment and observation of the ways language operates in the formulation of ideas. The distinction between observation and thought in Wittgenstein’s work on language is often overlooked. In order to teach Wittgenstein effectively, the curriculum should focus on various methods to teach students not just to think but to observe. The author offers a series of classroom exercises and games to engage students with the text and to elucidate philosophical components necessary to understand the author. The games direct students’ attention to what they need to notice and observe in the function of language in Wittgenstein’s later work.

Taking up Wittgenstein’s critique of the modern worldview, the author gives an account of the assumptions behind it and of its presence in educational institutions. This worldview is easily perpetuated and instilled in new generations through the influence of unconscious assumptions held by educators and institutions. The author argues that in order to halt its perpetuation, educators can use the classroom to change the way students think, specifically by transforming the use of language in the classroom. This paper outlines Wittgenstein’s critique of modernity and suggests alternative ways to view the function of language in the world, arguing that Wittgenstein’s insights are of singular value to this project. The use of a new language in teaching and learning transforms the classroom into a site of creative engagement rather than a continuation of the modern worldview.

This paper outlines the effectiveness of films as a pedagogical tool for teaching philosophy. For the author, a film skillfully explores philosophical issues, capturing students’ attention and providing a setting for discussion. The author focuses on the use of Lars von Trier's Zentropa as a beneficial tool for discussion of Kierkegaard’s Either/Or. The film adequately illustrates the two positions of the aesthete and the judge, and demonstrates the adverse affects of avoiding choice in one's life. The film can also be useful in an introductory course and a class on existentialism because it attends to the larger philosophical questions of how one should live their life.